Lithium-ion batteries have enjoyed commercial success over the last 20 years as the dominant technology for energy storage in consumer electronics. In recent years, an increase in global energy demand, rising and fluctuating crude oil prices, and environmental concerns have led to an increase in demand for lithium-ion batteries. In particular, lithium-ion battery technology is being developed for applications in hybrid and electric vehicles. For vehicle applications, the materials that comprise the cathode materials in lithium-ion batteries must provide high capacity, high power, improved safety, long calendar lifetimes, thermal stability, low cost, and low toxicity. Generally, cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries that are currently on the market are unable to meet all the requirements for vehicular applications.
The energy-storage component of a lithium-ion battery cathode includes solid, micrometer-sized particles. These particles are typically of the composition LiMO2, where M refers to a variety of transition metals both in isolation or in combination, commonly nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), or manganese (Mn). LiCoO2 is the most common commercial cathode material. However, the toxicity and high cost of Co has encouraged the development of other cathode materials with Ni or Mn.